Stewart holds off Power for individual championship, as Bucs pick up record third win of the 2010 spring season

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (April 13, 2010) - The 29th-ranked ETSU men's golf team led wire-to-wire to claim the Coca-Cola Wofford Invitational title Tuesday at the Country Club of Spartanburg.

The Buccaneers were led by two dominating performances, as sophomore Michael Stewart (Troon, Scotland) won the indiviual championship on the strength of 16 birdies over three rounds and finished at 7-under 209 (72-66-71) for the tournament. Stewart's 6-under-par 66 bested his low single round of the season by three strokes, and the win marked his second collegiate individual title. Meanwhile, senior Seamus Power (Waterford, Ireland) ended the event one stroke back of Stewart at 6-under 210.

As a team, the Bucs recorded a team score of 847 over three rounds of play, using an impressive score of 277 score in the second round to finish at 17-under-par, besting second place USC Upstate by 15 strokes. ETSU now has three team titles this spring, matching the 2001 squad for the most team titles during the spring semester in program history.

"The guys did a great job," said ETSU head coach Fred Warren. "This was a good course and a great test of golf, and the whole team contributed. It came down to the last hole between Michael and Seamus, and they both birdied which was good to see. It's nice to get another win and be playing good golf as we prepare for the conference tournament next week."

For Stewart, it was his second career title, but it didn't come easy. Watching Power birdie the final hole in front of him, he was forced to birdie as well to hold the lead.

"I told our assistant coach (Keith Nolan) that I wanted to know what Seamus did," Stewart said. "He showed me three fingers and so I knew we were tied. I had 111 yards and hit a 54-degree wedge to four feet, and I made the putt. It's a big confidence booster to be playing well like this, and as a team we seem to be in a good place."

Other ETSU results included a tie for sixth by junior Paul O'Kane (Castledawson, Northern Ireland) and a tie for 18th by freshman Garth McGee (Bangor, Northern Ireland).

The Bucs will now prepare for the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships scheduled for April 19-21 in Braselton, Ga. ETSUBucs.com will provide complete coverage of that event throughout the three-day tournament.